The BAFTA award nominations for 2018 were announced this week with four films together snagging nearly 40 nominations for the British version of pre-Oscar prizes – sort of like the Golden Globes, but with more class and no telly.

"The Shape of Water" led all nominations for British Academy of Film Awards with 12, followed by "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri" and "Darkest Hours" with nine nominations each. Another World War II film "Dunkirk" grabbed eight nominations, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Blade Runner 2049" also garnered eight nominations, including for director, but mostly in categories that don't grab headlines.

Two big snubs, THR said, were "The Post," the Tom Hanks/Meryl Streep movie about the Washington Post publishing the Pentagon Papers, and the Netflix title "Mudbone." Neither of the highly-touted movies won any nominations.

The Guardian said Gary Oldman's portrayal of Winston Churchill in "Darkest Hour" has made him a favorite to win a BAFTA.

"It seems to resonate on both sides of the aisle," Eric Fellner, one of producers of "Darkest Hour" told The Guardian. "It isn't being picked up by one side of the political divide – it is people in general yearning for leadership. That includes politicians who have seen it."

The Guardian also pointed to Frances McDormand's performance in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" as one of the top movies with strong female leads. McDormand plays a mother angry at local police for their inability to find her daughter’s murderer.

"She takes no prisoners, she's got a strength that I'm not sure any male character this year has had," the movie's director Martin McDonagh told The Guardian. "All I can do is take care of the artistic side of things and it is great to be putting out a film like this with such a strong female presence."

The BAFTA award nominations for 2018 were announced this week with four films together snagging nearly 40 nominations for the British version of pre-Oscar prizes – sort of like the Golden Globes, but with more class and no telly.